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How is meth abused?

Methamphetamine — a potent and highly addictive stimulant — abuse remains an extremely serious problem in the United States. But the consequences of methamphetamine abuse are terrible for the individual:

psychological

medical

social

…these side effects can ruin a meth addict’s life. The good news is that drug abuse can be prevented. Also, addiction to meth can be treated. More here on illicit meth or Methedrine (legal brand name pharmaceutical) addiction is formed. Plus, we’ll let you know a little about how to treat Methedrine addiction with the help of medical recovery programs.

So, how can meth be abused and what are the side effects of its abuse? We provide the answers in the text below. Then, we invite your questions about signs of meth problems in the comments section at the end. We try to respond to all legitimate questions with a personal and prompt reply.

Can meth be abused?

Yes, meth can be abused.

In fact, any time that you use methamphetamine for euphoric effect, you are abusing it. What are the features of this particular type of drug abuse? Because the pleasurable effects of methamphetamine disappear even before the drug concentration in the blood falls significantly, users try to maintain the high by taking more of the drug. In some cases, abusers indulge in a form of binging known as a “run,” foregoing food and sleep while continuing to take the drug for up to several days.

How meth is abused

Methamphetamine use for medical purposes is restricted to methamphetamine salt combinations used to treat ADHD and sleep disorders. When abused, meth is taken orally, smoked, snorted, or dissolved in water or alcohol and injected. Smoking or injecting the drug delivers it very quickly to the brain, where it produces an immediate, intense euphoria. This immediate, intense “rush” amplifies the drug’s addiction potential and adverse health consequences. The rush, or “flash,” may last only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. However, because the pleasure also fades quickly, users often take repeated doses, in a “binge and crash” pattern.

Snorting or oral ingestion of meth produces euphoria – an intense sense of well-being, or a high – but not an intense rush. Snorting produces effects within 3 to 5 minutes, and oral ingestion produces effects within 15 to 20 minutes.

Meth abuse side effects

Even in small doses, meth can increase wakefulness and physical activity and decrease appetite. Methamphetamine can also cause a variety of cardiovascular problems, including rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, and increased blood pressure. Hyperthermia (elevated body temperature) and convulsions may occur with methamphetamine overdose and, if not treated immediately, can result in death.

Signs of meth abuse

In addition to becoming addicted to methamphetamine, chronic abusers may exhibit signs that can include:

significant anxiety

confusion

insomnia

mood disturbances

violent behavior

They also may display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, visual or auditory hallucinations, and delusions (for example, the sensation of insects creeping under the skin). Psychotic signs of meth abuse can sometimes last for months or years after a person has quit abusing methamphetamine, and stress has been shown to precipitate spontaneous recurrence of methamphetamine psychosis in formerly psychotic methamphetamine abusers.

Questions about abusing meth

Do you still have questions about how people abuse meth or its negative consequences? We invite you to post your questions here. And if we don’t know the answer to your question(s), we’ll refer you to someone who does.

I must be unique in my use of meth for a year. I have never displayed any of those signs of use in your article. I only felt good and later speed. I smoke up to half gram in 2 days. Maybe I didn’t do enough for those effects??

Hi Susan. Thanks for sharing more on your experience; long term effects of meth can trigger irreversible damage to body systems. Perhaps dosing frequency has not lead to these outcomes yet…but they are ahead of you if you don’t stop. I wish you well. Lee

Tony

11:33 am November 21st, 2014

Why does meth make you like super horny and just crazy when it comes to sex pleasure.

Hello Tony. Meth affects the central part of the brain. This is the brain’s region that regulates the more primitive aspects of our mental process, such as pleasure, cravings, and instinctive actions without regard to reason, logic, or higher functions of thinking. This part of the brain gets highly stimulated from meth, while the frontal part (that controls higher level thinking) gets shut down.

Chris

6:53 am August 11th, 2015

“In fact, any time that you use methamphetamine for euphoric effect, you are abusing it.”

The same could be said about alcohol.

Angel

8:01 am May 1st, 2016

I just found out my roommate has been abusing Meth, he has been smoking it. I found out he has been smoking it in his room and I have children, is there a risk that we have been exposed due to his smoking? We don’t go in his room and he admitted he put towels all over the door but I don’t know anything about it. He has asked me to help him kick the habit and to not kick him out (I just learned it has been a problem off and on since he was a teenager) I agreed on the condition he submits to a drug test every 3 days for two months and then randomly over the course of him living here. However if my children have been exposed due to his smoking in the house I don’t know if I can follow through on that.

Billy

4:01 am June 22nd, 2017

Hi this Billy, I’ve been smoking meth since 1998 ,I live normal as other, but even I’ve cut down to, a gram a week, I still won’t be able to quit ,sometimes as low as 1 hit a day, but just can’t stop, can anyone help, I’ve to stop ,my life is mess up already, and because of meth, I’m in some situations that will send me back to jail soon or later. Please reply.

Lydia @ Addiction Blog

11:17 am June 29th, 2017

Hi Billy. Call the helpline you see on the website to speak with a trusted treatment consultant.

Jaason

2:39 pm September 7th, 2017

Are voices and seeing people hiding in trees and bushes, being followed, and being sprayed with liquid normal side-effects? Does anyone have similar experiences?

Lydia @ Addiction Blog

5:39 pm September 7th, 2017

Hi Jaason. Those are serious side effects. You may want to see a doctor.

Alex

4:36 am October 13th, 2017

Hey! Can you please tell me if use of meth for a week after every 4 or 5 months affects sexual performence or desire or sperm? And can this much use affect your mental or physical condition permanently?

Lydia @ Addiction Blog

2:43 pm October 20th, 2017

Hi Alex. It depends from the dosage you take and the interaction that meth has made with your system.

SilvermMan

5:48 am November 18th, 2018

I have had a long relationship with this drug and just a result of girlfriends family seems like somebody always has a family member making it and so always available and I was stuck on heroin I quit after overdosing and spending two weeks in ICU Intibated in a coma I just left it alone and was lucky to withdraw while still unconscious and just left it there and then I started injecting meth that takes you down a completely different road of course all together having insane sexual desires and different women and mostly without protection and not knowing what her name was and also insane sexual desires with women you have no business with and just want to get the taboo affect is what I
Kinda think anyways shit been around for years and keeps getting cheaper and stronger but what’s your life gonna be whenever you get a real habit going and everyone sees your newfound following of girls and they just wanna get
Hi and get used and basically all they live for
Seen girls leave her kids and husbands and it destroys families and makes decent people turn into something that they don’t ever see coming and all that left afterwards is a broken child please think about what they see when you get hi
And leave them or you stay and do it in front of your babies . Please get help This drug is going to take you for everything you got I have witnessed it too many times I hope one of you read this page and decide to get back up
An take your life back.. it’s not your fault that life has knocked you down it happens to everybody that’s understandable you aren’t a bad person we get dealt the cards we get down your not in anyway a loss and you aren’t a waste but it is a sin if you don’t get back up and get back in the fight for your life back and possibly family please don’t let this’ happen you are worth it and you don’t let it defeat you .. GOD BLESS YOU READING THIS RIGHT NOW I WANNA SEE YOU BEAT THIS IVE LOST FRIENDS AND IM SICK OF WATCHING IT WIN PLEASE STOP 🛑 ONLY YOU CAN CHANGE I
CAN ONLY PRAY THAT YOU WILL GET THE WILL POWER AND DESIRE TO PUT IT DOWN YOU WONT MISS ANYTHING ONCE YOU SEE WHAT ALL THERE IS TO BE GAINED FROM DROPPING IT LOVE YOU ALL GOOD LUCK 🍀

I have smoked very very heavily every day for about 2-3 years now and I slowed down about a month ag...

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